Best RV Parks & Resorts near Ericson, NE

This campground is open from April 1– October 31 but you must make a reservation and since we were looking for a place to land at 4:30 pm on a Sunday in June with no reservations, it would not work for us. 

It is located on the Calamus River and near (two miles away) from the Calamus Reservoir and Marina. Sites are laid out in typical RV style and have a picnic table and full hookups (30 and 50 amp electric), fire rings, and picnic tables and are large enough to fit all sizes of RV.

When we were there last year, there was no restroom on site (the website still says it is coming soon so either there are still no restrooms or the website is not up-to-date). 

This campground bills itself as family-friendly. Rates are$45/night and some of them are booked for the season.

Though located on the North side of the Missouri River, this campground is considered to be in Nebraska. Run by the US Corp of Engineers, there are no state permits required. We paid $16/night, but it’s possible that we could have gotten 50% off with our America the Beautiful pass. I just forgot to check and didn’t think to include the pass when registering.

The site was electric only and I don’t believe full hookups are a available at the campground. We snagged this site, in what is normally a fully booked campground, thanks to Campnab.

The site was paved and had an area covered with small rocks where the picnic table and fire pit were located. We had two trees at the north of our site that facilitated hanging the hammock with extended straps and also a tree on the west side of the site. The bath/shower house was a short walk (as was water access) and were very, very well kept and clean. Contractors live on site and clean several times a day. It was a great area for riding bikes and was very family and pet friendly.

3 miles East of Loup City is Trade Winds campground. It is privately owned so you don’t need a state pass. It has 12 cabins and 20 Rv/tent sites with electricity and shared water. The sites are very close together but have shade trees. Each site is back in with picnic bench and fire rings. There is a nice marina for food,bait, supplies. And it has a grill open on weekends. There is a coin operated shower house and laundry mat area. The Marina also has kayak, boat slip, and storage for rent. Everyone there seems to be nice. They even had a huge firework display.

Very small campground inside the Burwell city park. Four electrical hookups, two back in & two pull-through. Very old wooden pit toilets, may have showers up at the pool & had one flush toilet restroom on the outside wall of the pool house that had a door (unlocked at all times we were there.) We stayed in one of the back-in sites that was right on the Loup River. Very quiet with no hi-way noise. We were there two nights and a Burwell sheriff drove through one night, and a Nebraska state patrol cruiser drove through the other night we were there. We had a very nice quiet stay there.

General: One of three campgrounds as part of the Calamas Reservoir State Recreation Area. Homestead Knolls has 83 sites, all with electricity; two of them are handicap accessible and about half are reservable. 

Site Quality: All had paved driveways and appeared level. We were granted a handicap site as it was after 5 pm and this one was close to the restrooms (heavy rain was forecasted for the night). There had already been some rain and some of the sites had some flooding. It was pretty quiet on a Sunday night in early June (with crappy weather) but we were told that on weekends (especially holiday weekends), the campground fills up. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit/grill. 

Restrooms: One bathhouse with flush toilets, and showers. Showers take quarters. When we were there, the quarter machine was broken but the host had quarters. We were told the reason they charge for showers is to discourage teenage girls from taking long showers after being at the beach! The bathrooms were clean but dated. We didn’t use the shower so cannot comment on it. There were also vault toilets located throughout the campground and day-use area; the one I used was very clean. 

Activities: Primary activities are boating, fishing, and water skiing. We don’t do any of these and were just passing through with only one more night before returning home from a three-month road trip. There was also a sign for a nature trail, but the raindrops were beginning to fall so we were not able to explore it. There is a playground, but it was dated. If you have kids who would like to use the playground, I recommend Sites 26, 28, 30 and 40, 42, and 44 (conversely, stay away from these sites if you do not want to be close to kids on the playground)! 

Overall, this is a decent campground but at $42 per night (including a $12 out-of-state pass), we would try and find other places to camp, especially since we do not have a boat or fish.

This is a dispersed campground that allows stays up to 14 days. This is a beautiful place. Trees are beautiful. The lake is beautiful. If you're a fly fisherman, this place is paridise if you can't get to usual fly fishing locations.

There is only one piece of playground equipment for children. It is a merry - go - round that swings as it goes around.

Pit toilets are filthy dirty and smell horrible.

Pads are uneven and made up of dirt or gravel in a couple of locations. Lots of tree shelter in the campground. Fire pits and elevated grills in each camp spot.

Lots of walking trails.

Sadly, I will never go back. The other campers were rude, arrogant, loud, drunk, filthy mouthed, and looking for fights. Generators ran all night and day. Night time bonfires were huge and out of control.

We got there, and there was one other camper, and it was delightful. The situation changed quickly, and in my humble, modest opinion, this is not a place for normal decent people. We did not feel safe at all.

P.S.

There is absolutely NO cell service in this campground.